RCOC to begin using E-Verify system in March

The Oakland County Board of Road Commissioners has voted to implement the federal E-Verify Program that allows employers to verify that employees are eligible to work in the United States.

The board approved the measure at its Dec. 16 meeting, in keeping with the Oakland County general government’s procurement policy.

“The E-Verify Program is not mandatory,” said Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) Spokesperson Craig Bryson. “However, it came to the attention of RCOC board recently that the county general government had initiated an E-Verify Program, and our board felt it would be appropriate to do likewise in order to be consistent with county processes.”

The program allows employers, including the RCOC, to verify employment eligibility when hiring new employees and to confirm that service consultants/vendors doing business with the RCOC comply with federal immigration laws. The new policy for the RCOC will go into effect on March 1, 2011, potentially making the RCOC the only Michigan road commission to implement such as policy.

Oakland County Commissioner Jim Runestad (R-Waterford, White Lake) worked closely with the county road board to implement the program, and has been a strong advocate for E-Verify since being elected to the Oakland County Board of Commissioners in 2008.

“I commend the Road Commission for Oakland County for implementing the E-Verify policy, to ensure that potential business partners are hiring legal workers, when seeking vendors for future county contracts,” Runestad said. “This is an example of responsible government and shows respect for taxpayers’ money.”

The E-Verify program in Oakland County requires all businesses, contractors, and subcontractors doing business with the county to use the federal E-Verify program to demonstrate that they are employing only legal workers.

E-Verify is an Internet-based, free program operated by the federal government that compares information from an employee’s Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 to data from U.S. government records. If the information matches, that employee is eligible to work in the United States. If there’s a mismatch, E-Verify alerts the employer and the employee is allowed to work while he or she resolves the problem within eight days.

The program is operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration.